Have fun with your employees… Reap the rewards.

Each of us dreams to own their own careers or have their own firm; some of us have accomplished that dream, and some of us still aim to do so, but.. each person knows that it’s not over with opening the firm or factory or establishment but beyond that are many stages, he wouldn’t have opened that project just to brag about it, or to select a name he likes for it, but he wanted and still want it to be a successful project, here a very natural question comes to mind: How do we judge any work or project to be among the successful projects?

Perhaps the first thing that comes to mind is that the success of any job is relevant to its financial returns, those who work in stock market judge success by increase or decrease of share price. However, in my own opinion I think that the success of any job depends on the angle through which the company or establishment owner sees success. Many of us seek to achieve financial gains, and there are some that view their success to be relevant to the success of the mission they are working for, like spreading culture and social awareness and all foundations there is that aim to reach the mind not the pocket.

We might get to the level of success and judge a firm to be successful, but we need to pause a moment to evaluate this success, so the question remains the same: How do we achieve the highest level and how do we get a full score?

Here, many things come to mind that we think are primary, and we try to arrange matters according to their importance; So, the place comes first then the equipment and tools then advertising and publicity… then the good employee.

Someone might say that administrative awareness has played its part and clarified the importance of the role of the employee in driving the wheel of development, and here is the main point or what I like to call bottom line. Yes, the vitality of the role of human resources is no longer a secret to anyone, but is the main drive for the productive process, and let’s underline “productive”, because it is the real scale the we must seek and cite, every time the indicator of this scale rises, we grow more certain that we are on the right track, this scale is in-turn split to parts together as a whole. Such as machine productivity, publicity, employee and others.

Many studies confirm that variability in intellectual abilities no longer plays a major role in his productivity, it is how to benefit from those capabilities whether they were little or huge is the point we must seek, what confirms this point is the variability that we notice in the individual’s productivity from time to time influenced by an administrative or financial change, so here it was crucial that we talk about the factors that lead to increase or decrease in individual productivity, perhaps what drove me to speak of this matter in particular are two things, first of which my reading of a number of studies that sparked my interest, and of course, these studies were not implemented in our Arab society, and the other reasons is what rumored about the holy month of Ramadan that may Allah return its blessings upon us. That it affects and limits employee productivity.

In fact, it is possible that fasting has some effect on productivity but hearsays spreads in the offices or through the lobbies is what magnifies those rumors, to an extent where our employees are convinced with them, which leads to affecting the employee and his performance directly. So, you would see our employee at morning work hours unable to raise his head due to fatigue but with a miracle has the strength to play a football match, Afterhours and before breakfast time. And talks and news that spread like wildfire may not always have a negative effect. An American study conducted in Boston and Chicago cities has proven that gossip among employees helps and works to strengthen bonds of friendship among them. Which’s in many times leads to increasing their productivity and speed to accomplish what tasks given to them.

So gossip as the study proves isn’t always a matter of harmful information. As employees talk about work promotions, pregnancies, events and other positive matters. the same much as they speak about the mistakes of their colleagues at work, so gossip is a source of information that could help to move forward. Moreover, gossip drives slackers to do their duties and catch up to the levels of their colleagues.

I did not mean through mentioning this study to encourage gossip in any form, god forbid, but I wanted to point out that it is possible to take advantage of this bad attitude, which is no secret to anyone how much it is spread in our establishments and services, through spreading some good information about bonuses or promotions or other news that pleases the ears of our dear employee. And this information is enough to make itself a reality by leaving a great effect that drives the employee to work in a way the qualifies him to get the awaited reward and promotion.

This is true if we seek the reasons that call for increasing employee productivity, but if we seek the reasons that lead to decreasing his productivity, they are the complete opposite of the reasons that lead to an increase, such as inadequacy of financial income, delay in distributing financial dues, but there is a reason not hidden to many managers, which is the global network (internet) it is though I can see you right now my dear employee and you have tightened your eyebrows deploring my stirring up of this point, but pardon me, truth be told, it was recently noted the prominence of companies that produce internet surveillance program, especially after conducting a survey, that confirmed that 75% of internet-using firms’ managers have stressed the importance of internet surveillance operation at the offices. For example, if a thousand employees at a middle size company spent a medium average of one hour online every day it would cost the company 35 Million USD annually, according to a separate study conducted in the US.

An although I believe the truth behind this study I honestly say, denying the employee entertainment or Internet access, is not the effective solution to increase his productivity. On the contrary, denying him access to those privileges may lead to the presence of a reaction that negatively influences his work. In my opinion, learning well what the employee is capable of, and tasking him with jobs he likes to do is the starting point toward success, and providing some means of entertainment will surely contribute in increasing employee creativity. And perhaps the best example we can cite is Google company, it is not a secret to you my dear how much success this company has reached. Not through pressure or blockade but through entertainment and recreation, and I think it is time my dear manager to change some of your policies and designate a small section of your company building for fun and recreation.